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Elche CF
Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Elche, Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1923, it currently plays in the Spanish second division, holding home matches at Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero, with a capacity of 38,750 seats. History Foundation and early years Elche CF was founded in the summer of 1923 after the union of all the clubs in the town that played football. First game that was played by the new club was in Monovar against a local club and was won with a four goals to nil. First official match was played against Crevillente and was won with a two goals to nil. First time that Elche played in Tercera was in the season 1929/30 and their first promotion to Segunda happened five years later but it didn't took long and in a very short period of time they were back in Tercera with a serious financial problems. In the season 1957/58 they were promoted again to Segunda and the year later after a 3-0 away win at Tenerife they reached their first, historical promotion. 60s: the golden age In the season 1959/60 Elche found themselves for the first time in Primera. The debut came against Real Oviedo in the match which ended with a result 1-1. The honour of scoring first goal of Ilicitanos in the elite got to Vicente Pahuet. Although newcomers in the league they managed to stay pretty comfortably in the middle of the table for the whole season with nine points ahead of Osasuna. They also made a big surprise with a comeback against strong Barcelona team but also a humiliating 11-2 defeat at Bernabeu. Next year was much more difficult and franjiverdes were struggling the whole season but in the end managed to stay in the first division after a 4-0 win at home in the relegation playoffs against Ceuta. After first set-backs Elche started to slowly stabilize themselves in the elite and in the season 1963/64 they finished 5th, their best season in Primera to date. Also, their reserve team Elche Ilicitano was promoted to Segunda. The season 1968/69 saw Elche's best run in Spanish Cup. They reached all the way to the finals eliminating the likes of Valencia and Real Sociedad on the way. Eliminatory against Erreala was especially dramatic because the first match finished with a 3-0 result for Elche and in the second leg Real equalized the score with a 4-1 win. Since back then there were no away goals rule third match was played in Madrid which Elche won with a two goals to nil and secured their place in the final where their opponent was another Basque powerhouse, Athletic Bilbao. But Athletic proved to be to strong and took the glory of Copa champions with a 1-0 win at Santiago Bernabeu. 70s: return to Primera With the start of the 70s came an end to Elche's twelve consecutive seasons long run in Primera as they were relegated in 1971. Their stay in Segunda lasted for two years and starting with the season 1973/74 they were back in Primera. Their second breaktrough in Primera lasted for five years but was not as nearly succesfull as the first one and they often avoided relegation in the last weeks of the season. Finally in the season 1977/78 after a 4-4 thriller against Atlético Madrid they were relegated back to Segunda. The disappointment was even bigger because they had a comfortable 4-2 lead by the minute 86 but after two goals in two minute's by Atleti's Rubén Cano they lost everything. 80s and 90s: severe financial chrisis After the relegation in 1978 Elche has been suffering. Although, on paper they had a good team able to get a promotion to Primera they never managed to do it. In fact, in first five years since their return to Segunda they were on three occasions forth and on two occasions fifth (and on two occasions even on points with a third placed team but with a worse goal-average), often losing chance for promotion on the last matchday. Especially traumatic was the finish of the season 1980-81. One game before the end of the season they were second with a two point adventage ahead of Rayo Vallecano and Racing Santander. All they had to do was get a point out of the game against Cadiz at Martínez Valero. But they lost and finished fourth with 45 points just like four other teams (CD Castellón, Cádiz, Racing Santander and Rayo Vallecano). Then in the season 1983/84 finally came long awaited promotion with a touch of luck which lacked in previous seasons because finished just in fifth position but since first two positions were occupied by reserve teams of Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao and reserve teams can not play in Primera Elche was granted a place in Primera for the season 1984/85. However, the return in Primera in 80's was not nearly successful as the ones in 60's and 70's. They spent whole season in relegation zone and were instantly relegated back. Frustrations continued and the next season they missed a return to Primera for just one point. In the 1988 they were promoted again for another cameo appearance alongside big boys. They spent whole season in the last place and eventually finished dead last with eighteen points behind Málaga who occupied the last position that granted Primera for the next year. That was Elche's last season in Primera. Last game they played was against Zaragoza, 3-1 loss and the last goal was scored by Alfonso Fernández. After the relegation in 1989 Elche started to suffer great financial difficulties caused by desperate desire to repeat the glory of 60's 70's. Season 1989/90 was finished in the middle of the table and the next year they were relegated and for the season 1991/92 for the first time in Elche's history. During the 90's Elche felt the same impotence to break through to higher level and season after season they were eliminated in promotion playoff for Segunda. Then, finally in 1997 they managed to return back to Segunda but they were immediately relegated back but just for one season, they came back to Segunda in 1999 and since then the club has been slowly recuperating on few occasions even coming close to return to Primera. Closest they got was in the season 2010/11 when they played promotion playoff. They managed to eliminate Real Valladolid in the first round but in the second were beaten by Granada because of more goals scored away thus prolonging Ilicitanos's hiatus from Primera for 24 years. Colours and crest Elche's kit contains of white shirt and one green horizontal stripe on the chest, white shorts and white socks. From their green stripe comes the nickname franjiverdes (green-striped ones). Elche's current crest has been in use with smaller modifications since the very beginning of the club. It has the same details as the emblem of the town Elche. Rivalries Elche's biggest rivals is considered to be their nearest neighbours, Hércules Alicante. There is also a smaller rivalry with Real Murcia, biggest team from neighbouring region of Murcia. Seasons Recent seasons : Season to season *As Elche Football Club |} *As Elche Club de Fútbol |valign="top" width=0%| |} |valign="top" width=0%| |} ---- *'19' seasons in La Liga *'35' seasons in Segunda División *'7' seasons in Segunda División B *'19' seasons in Tercera División Current squad As of 19 June 2012 Honours *'Segunda División': 1958–59 *'Copa del Rey': Runner-up 1968–69 International players see also Famous coaches * Alfredo Di Stéfano * Fernando Daucik * László Kubala * César * Claudio Barragán * David Vidal see also See also *Elche Ilicitano - Elche's reserve team *es:Trofeo Festa d'Elx External links *Official website *Futbolme team profile *BDFutbol team profile Category:Football clubs in Spain Category:Elche CF Category:Segunda División Category:Association football clubs established in 1923 Category:1923 establishments in Spain ar:نادي إلتشه ca:Elx Club de Futbol de:FC Elche el:Έλτσε ΚΦ es:Elche Club de Fútbol eu:Elche Club de Fútbol fa:باشگاه فوتبال الچه fr:Elche CF gl:Elche Club de Fútbol ko:엘체 CF hy:Էլչե ՖԱ id:Elche CF it:Elche Club de Fútbol lt:Elche CF hu:Elche CF nl:Elche CF ja:エルチェCF pl:Elche CF pt:Elche Club de Fútbol ru:Эльче (футбольный клуб) simple:Elche C.F. sk:Elche CF fi:Elche CF sv:Elche CF zh:埃尔切足球俱乐部